OUR VIEW: Training for technology will benefit the region

Decades ago, a kid growing up in the metropolitan Detroit area could aspire to the kind of job his dad held working in an auto plant for pretty good money.

It's a lot more complicated nowadays. There aren't as many manufacturing jobs, the money isn't as good and what kind of job can women aspire to?

A new report sponsored by Automation Alley holds out hope for all of our young people.

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It compared southeastern Michigan's status as a technology center with 14 other regions. Our region placed first in total number of people working in engineering and architectural fields, the number of engineering and related degrees and number of workers in advanced automotive sectors. It placed fourth in proportion of total employment in the tech field and fifth in total tech employment with 211,000 jobs.

Other regions included heavy hitters such as Silicon Valley.

What especially caught our eye is that educational institutions in the region are meeting its needs. The acronym for the pertinent educational programs is STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Executive Director Ken Rogers of the Automation Alley organization said the educational output in those fields indicates that Southeastern Michigan is more likely to hold and improve its position.

Those findings appear to describe the area's colleges and universities.

It's our impression that there is a trickle-down effect to our public and private K-12 schools as well.

Preparation for STEM fields has been a problem in many districts, as shown on test scores in science and math. We worry that the kids aren't being prepared for much of anything if they aren't learning or motivated to read and write very well, and they know even less about science and math.

Yet, exceptions abound. We regularly report the successes of young people in our school districts in contests in fields such as robotics and science. Some of our high schools pointedly feed community college programs aimed squarely at the region's technology.

So it's our hope, our expectation, that the young people of both genders aspire to the kinds of jobs their moms and dads hold in the region's technology fields.